Here’s what you need to know:
1. Private healthcare accreditors directly oversee nearly nine out 10 U.S. hospitals and keep their findings secret.
2. CMS inspects a sample of hospitals and healthcare facilities on its own every year and often finds significant deficiencies accrediting organizations missed.
3. Hospital violations and nursing home deficiency reports are now accessible online.
4. Over 98,000 people die each year due to mistakes in hospitals, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine.
5. Private accrediting organizations rarely penalize organizations they oversee, as over 99 percent have full accreditation and only seven are currently on track to lose a “gold seal of approval,” according to the report.
6. AHA supports providing useful information to the public but doubts the details inspection reports will accomplish this goal.
CMS officials wrote, “We believe it is important to continue to lead the effort to make information regarding a healthcare facility’s compliance with health and safety requirements [publicly available].”
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